cover image Be Kind to Yourself: Releasing Frustrations and Embracing Joy

Be Kind to Yourself: Releasing Frustrations and Embracing Joy

Cindy Bunch. IVP, $15 trade paper (132p) ISBN 978-0-8308-4676-4

Bunch (Jesus’ Final Week), associate publisher of IVP, delivers a mixed bag of spiritual reflections intended to encourage the devout to embrace self-kindness. Self-reflection can help ease pain, frustration, and anger, writes Bunch, which leads to self-love and kindness to others. To aid this reflective process, she suggests writing to oneself in God’s voice, examen prayers, and practices for attaining patience and self-control (by, for instance, using positive thoughts to combat self-critical thinking or making a playlist of soothing songs). She also recommends daily adjustments, such as developing a morning habit of reading and journaling, to foster healthy routines and grow spiritually. Throughout, she urges readers to define “What’s bugging you?” (such as toxic personal encounters or anxiety) and “What’s bringing you joy?” (like noticing God’s presence), and to “embrace the things that bring awareness of God’s very good gifts.” However, most annoyances Bunch mentions are superficial, such as traffic, rude co-workers, burnt breakfast, canceled flights, and television. Only a couple of Bunch’s examples address more serious stresses, such as the suffering of a sick child or a rocky marriage. The work’s high point is the chapter on social media, in which Bunch covers strategies for responding to intolerant political opinions and taking a sabbatical from social media. Christians looking for simple affirmations will enjoy Bunch’s modest consideration of small frustrations. (July)